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Welcome!

Welcome!

There are some wonderful people in Lonehill who, on a completely volunteer basis, take care of healthy populations of feral cats, bunnies, goats, dogs etc.  They sometimes share their tales with the Lonehill Community on this Lonehill Animal Welfare News website as they depend on the public for support, donations, volunteering and sharing in their good and not so good news sometimes.
If you have any articles and photos about animal welfare to share with the Lonehill Community, you can contact the webmaster to submit such articles and photos by Tuesday at 12:00 noon.  In the LRA newsletter a link is published weekly to this independent website.  Articles can be any length and photos any size.

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FERAL CATS, RESCUES AND OTHER – 19 OCTOBER 2021

BLAZE IS MISSING: Several years ago we helped in catching about 30 bunnies in the Lonehill Office Park which is just below the shopping centre and they were relocated. Then I caught another about 20 bunnies from the front of the Engen garage who were running around the centre’s parking lots. I had them all sterilised and relocated. A short while after the relocations 2 other bunnies appeared, Cinnabon (run over a few weeks ago) and Blaze as seen in the photo. We have been feeding Blaze nightly for about 5 years. Last week on the day some workmen came in to paint the buildings he disappeared. We fear the worst may have happened and several of us have searched the area but have found no body. I am currently checking his feed station morning and night and still leaving food, however, it remains untouched. He may himself have decided to relocate though we have searched in the obvious places. If anyone has any information on his whereabouts please contact me.

TNR (Trap, Neuter, Return): See collage. This morning we trapped a further 3 feral cats from the colony where we found Braveheart (cat caught in a snare mentioned last week). They are now with the Vet for sterilizing and vaccs. The one cat was really not happy about having to go to the Vet and as you can see, definitely wanted ‘out’. There are still another 4 to trap which we hope to do on Friday. Oh how I wish people would have their pets sterilized!

Other COLLAGE – New Housing: At another shopping centre where we feed a colony of working feral cats, the Centre assisted us with putting up housing for the colony. All of the igloos and kennels are well used.

BOTTLE BABIES: These kittens are doing well and growing by the day, tho’ costing us a fortune in milk formula. Some are now in foster care as they need feeding every 2 hours and 6 bottle babies are too many for one person to handle. We also still have a litter of 4, now about 9 weeks old and ready to be homed as well as a few teenagers left from last kitten season.

DONATIONS: Our bin just inside the Pick’nPay has been removed and the current collection bin is being handled by Pick’nPay themselves and it is doubtful as to whether any of these donations will come to us.

ADOPTIONS and FOSTERS:  Approved adoption and foster applications and home-checks apply. Our adoption fee of R850 covers 1st vacs and boosters as well as 1st rabies, deworming, deflea, and sterilization when done by one of our nominated Vets.

Financial Donations to:                                                                                         

J David Cats Galore
Standard Bank
Branch code: 051001
Cheque a/c no. 002982846
Beneficiary Ref: “CG + Cell number”

Proof of payments to either: Judy 083 611 1333 or judy.e.david@gmail.com

Judy
Judy.e.david@gmail.com

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CAROLE’S CAT CHRONICLES – 19 OCTOBER 2021

DONATIONS

 

Last week I received a phone call from a gentleman who wanted to donate cat food for my Leaping Frog cats.  He said it was over 20 kgs of pellets of varying brands.  He told me that it was his birthday and he had asked his friends to donate cat food in lieu of birthday presents.  I was in awe of the kindness and the amount of cat pellets he has collected.  So amazing. I went to collect the cat food from his house but had to make two journeys, such was the quantity of bags.  I am overwhelmed with this donation.  Thank you Colin I am truly impressed and fortunate to receive such a large amount of food for our cats.  

LEAPING FROG CATS AT SUPPER TIME

These photos show a cohesive colony of a family of cats.  There are many more mouths to feed but these pictures taken recently were just the three that live together and are very close to each other. Having bonded for over 12 years.  Still going strong. An achievement for them and for me to have shared their lives thus far. They are very special. I have a dedicated group of volunteers who help me feed all the 17 cats that live in the grounds of the Leaping Frog.  Without them I would not be able to give them all a daily meal. Thank you to all the volunteers for your continued and caring support..  They have survived extremely cold winters and rainy summers.    

The cats portrayed in this week’s chronicles are BOY, SANDY AND CLEO.

If anyone wants to donate cat food I have a red bin at Vet to Pet for this purpose.  I am always pleased to receive these brands:  ULTRA CAT, ROYAL CANIN, HILLS, WHISKAS AND ALSO soft food pouches. Presently since last week’s donation we have plenty food to feed, but if you wish to donate please do so, as extra food is always welcome and goes to feed hungry cats less fortunate than our pets. 
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FERAL CATS, RESCUES AND OTHER – 12 OCTOBER 2021

UPDATE ON SCHWEPPES: Her foster mom informed me last week that the eye was weeping a little and it was inflamed so we had an appointment with the Eye Hospital where we were informed that one of the stitches holding the eyelid and eyelashes away from the eyeball had come out and the eyelashes were rubbing against the eyeball causing an ulcer to develop. An immediate second operation was arranged for Thursday last week which would be an Entropian procedure (removal of a section of the lower eyelid pulling the eyelid down, preventing it from inverting and the eyelashes from scratching the eyeball) and Epilation (permanent removal of the eyelashes). This to date has been successful and dear little Schweppes is back to wearing the dreaded cone. I have a follow-up appointment for her on the 21st October. She is such a spunky little girl, full of beans and affection for her foster mom who still has to administer 8 lots of eyedrops per day.

BRAVEHEART TRAPPED IN A SNARE:  We received a call last week about a feral cat with wire around its neck. This colony is fed early mornings before 6h30a.m. so trapping needed to be done at crack of dawn. This was on Friday 8th and if you recall there had been some heavy rain prior so there was a strong possibility that the colony would not come to eat. Luck was on our side and the whole colony came to eat but also the whole colony kept going into the trap. With there being several cats around we were using a manual trap and could select when to pull the string releasing the trap door. The cat in question went in after about 30 minutes and we pulled the string. Once in the trap we took photos as seen here and decided to call him Braveheart. If you look closely you can see that indeed it was a snare. Braveheart was rushed to the Vet who removed the snare, informing us that the wounds were very fresh, possibly only 24 hours old. This is a new colony of about 10 cats and not as yet sterilized. Braveheart was stitched up, given a long-term antibiotic shot, neutered, given normal vaccinations and rabies and now has a notch in his ear showing that he is sterilized. Later that afternoon he was returned to the rest of the colony. He was not seen on Saturday but seen Sunday morning and Monday. Now we just have to trap the rest of the colony and have them sterilized.

ADOPTIONS and FOSTERS: at the shelter we have just under 100 cats, teenagers and kittens all awaiting adoption or second best to be fostered. Approved adoption and foster applications and home-checks apply.

Our adoption fee of R850 covers 1st vacs and boosters as well as 1st rabies, deworming, deflea, and sterilization when done by one of our nominated Vets.
Financial Donations to:
J David Cats Galore
Standard Bank
Branch code: 051001
Cheque a/c no. 002982846
Beneficiary Ref: “CG + Cell number”
Or to the shelter direct:
Friends of Ferals
FNB
Cheque a/c: 627 5435 9852
Branch: 250 655
Beneficiary Ref: “CG + Cell number”.

Proof of payments to either: Judy 083 611 1333 or judy.e.david@gmail.com

Judy
Judy.e.david@gmail.com

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CAROLE’S CAT CHRONICLES – 6 OCTOBER 2021

HOMING OF LUNA

Last week I received a whatsapp message on our group from a volunteer of mine, trying to help find a new home for Luna. Her owner was leaving her behind and going to America.

She was about to put Luna into a cat rescue centre. This would have been very traumatic for a cat to move into a shelter after having a home. I normally don’t get involved with these situations as there can be too much heartache involved for me and I don’t agree with this type of homing.

Firstly trying to find the right home for a 6 year old cat is near impossible. The poor cat struggles to settle in a strange environment and the change it brings. I don’t know why I chose to get involved, I guess it was to try and persuade the owner to rethink and take Luna with her to America and not leave her in a shelter. I phoned her and told her as much, but she wouldn’t take Luna. This was very sad to hear.

In the meantime the shelter wouldn’t take her unless she had a health check and FIV test and vaccinations done at a vet. This proved to be a lifeline for Luna. I offered to help catch Luna as the owner said she couldn’t pick her up and get her into a carry cage as she was a very nervous cat and skittish. By sheer luck and an unusual coincidence, another of my volunteers said she would give Luna a home after we had checked her health out at the vet.

I arranged to meet her after the vet visit at Lonehill vet. We got Luna into my carry cage at the owner’s flat and drove her straight to the vet. They did a blood test to check the FIV status and this came back negative. This was such a relief. Luna also had her vaccinations done at the same time.

So far everything had gone really smoothly and Luna had been calm throughout this ordeal. I had used a herb called “happy cat” when we caught her and put her in the car. This seemed to have helped a lot. She didn’t struggle at all. Just after our vet consultation Lecia arrived at the vet to collect Luna and give her her forever home.

This was all working out so well, everything had gone according to plan without a hiccup. I could hardly believe how good Luna was and took everything in her stride. What a wonderful outcome. No longer did she have to go into a shelter which would have been the worst thing for any cat, let alone shy Luna. She is now settling down in her new home and will get lots of love and attention. I am so glad I ended up intervening to make this possible and grateful to everyone who made this come to fruition with a happy ending and a new beginning for LUNA.

 

Luna, top left and bottom left

 

DONATIONS

I would like to thank the folks who dropped off some cat pellets and pouches of cat food this past week, including a bag of Ultra cat which the cats seem to enjoy.

All donations are welcome and my collection bin is at Vet to Pet in Lonehill shopping centre. Please donate when you can as this helps the feeding scheme I have set up tremendously.

The cats enjoy these brands particularly: HILLS, ROYAL CANIN, IAMS AND ULTRA CAT, sometimes I give them Whiskas but not Epol or Catmore. Our cats have become somewhat spoiled and are used to the high quality brands. These brands work out cheaper in the long run as they are rich in good quality ingredients and go further than the cheaper brands. Also the health of the cats benefit from high quality cat food. Teeth, shiny coats and bright eyes, makes for happy, healthy cats.

Carole
082 424 2363
caroledike@gmail.com

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FERAL CATS, RESCUES AND OTHER – 6 OCTOBER 2021

KENNEDY (on the right), a rescue X Golden Retriever found wandering the streets over a year ago, not neutered at the time (we had him sterilised and vaccinated a few days later when no-one came forward to claim him), had a fall a few days ago and after numerous x-rays where we found no injuries but a badly sprained back leg, is now in rehab and bedrest! He’s not a happy chappy.



RAMBO (below): A Maine Coon rescued a year ago, see photo below, from an estate where they had already trapped and euthanised 11 abandoned cats (Rambo managed fortunately to break out of his trap and one of the volunteers brought him to us), was this weekend taken into foster care by one of the volunteers.

He was not doing well with the other cats and over the year he had been with us he had put on an enormous amount of weight which is difficult to control when you have 8 cats living together. His foster carer is taking him to a weight management clinic, where he will be given a specific diet to follow and put on a treadmill to get his weight down. Holding thumbs! It is not easy to get a cat’s weight down.

Rambo Oct 2021

 

 

 

 

KITTENS: See photo on the left, current litter.

They are now 8 weeks old, about to get their 1st vaccinations and ready to be adopted. We have 2 boys and 2 girls, Noxubee the tabby being one of the girls. Their mother was negative for FIV and FeLV which means the kittens are also negative.

 

Up for adoption or fostering: In the 3 collages below we have some of our teenagers and adults who are all up for adoption or fostering. As you can see every colour, age and of both sexes. All have had their vaccinations and been sterilized. All are available and open to visits. If more information is needed on any one specific cat please contact me.

ADOPTIONS and FOSTERS: Approved adoption and foster applications and home-checks apply.

Our adoption fee of R850 covers 1st vacs and boosters as well as 1st rabies, deworming, deflea, and sterilization when done by one of our nominated Vets.
Financial Donations to:
J David Cats Galore
Standard Bank
Branch code: 051001
Cheque a/c no. 002982846
Beneficiary Ref: “CG + Cell number”
Or to the shelter direct:
Friends of Ferals
FNB
Cheque a/c: 627 5435 9852
Branch: 250 655
Beneficiary Ref: “CG + Cell number”.

Proof of payments to either: Judy 083 611 1333 or judy.e.david@gmail.com

Judy
Judy.e.david@gmail.com

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FERAL CATS, RESCUES AND OTHER – 28 SEPTEMBER 2021

Memorial Walk:
You may or may not have seen the Facebook post of Friends of Ferals regarding their Memorial Walk which took place at their shelter in Hennopsriver last Saturday 25th September.

They had large shining Stars available on which one could write the name of your pet who has crossed over the Rainbow Bridge and hang it from the branch of one of the trees on the walk – a way of remembering them and celebrating their lives. It was a wonderful and emotional day for many and they actually ran out of Stars having only bought 40 and have now re-ordered.

In the one photo you will see some of the Stars with the relevant pets’ names, you may recognize many of them. Then all but one of the cats in the collage were treated by our local Vets or were in foster care in the Lonehill area or were the resident cats of local adopters, most of these cats have been mentioned in past newsletters.

Stars ready for hanging
Some Memorial Stars...

In the 2 videos (left and centre below) you have the Stars hanging on the branches and the wind rustling through them so they touch each other and make a beautiful tinkling sound. Some of these pets were from the shelter, others were volunteers’ pets, others adopters’ own resident pets – pets of every age and from all walks of life. The youngest was a few days old and the oldest nearly 20 years of age.

Should anyone wish me to put the name of your passed pet on a star and hang it with the others please contact me and I will happily do it.

On a lighter note: We currently have one kitten being bottle fed and doing well with 2 hourly feeds around the clock, several teenagers from last kitten season and a litter of four shown last week and therefore a third video, on the right, of one of the kittens just being a kitten.

1st part  – Tree on Memorial walk

2nd part – Memorial tree

Just being a kitten…

Food Donations:
As we no longer have a donations bin inside the local Pick’nPay, Terri of Biz-X-Press opposite Woolworths has offered to kindly take in any donations.

ADOPTIONS:
Approved adoption applications and home-checks apply.
Our adoption fee of R850 covers 1st vacs and boosters as well as 1st rabies, deworming, deflea, and sterilization when done by one of our nominated Vets.
Financial Donations to:
J David Cats Galore
Standard Bank
Branch code: 051001
Cheque a/c no. 002982846
Beneficiary Ref: “CG + Cell number”

Proof of payments to either: Judy 083 611 1333 or judy.e.david@gmail.com

Judy
Judy.e.david@gmail.com

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FERAL CATS, RESCUES AND OTHER – 21 SEPTEMBER 2021

This week has been a bag of mixed rescues:  cats, kittens, bunnies, ducks and dogs.

Kitten rescue: In the short video clip on the right we have a kitten seemingly abandoned in a complex when the owners moved out, crying at the window to get back in.

No-one claimed the kitten.  Another resident in the meanwhile fed him outside the unit but after a couple of days of no-one coming forward to claim him the shelter, Friends of Ferals, were contacted. As we had no team members close by we asked the resident who was feeding the kitten to take him to a local Vet where he was safe until one of the team could fetch him. This was done and the Vet put out a plea to find the owners but as no-one stepped forward the shelter fetched him and he is now safely with us.

The video is heart wrenching, how can people do this! It seems to be very common practice in complexes where the original owners think the kitten/cat can just fend for itself or that another resident will take pity on it. He’s now safe and will be up for adoption.

Rescued 10 years ago - bItten by snake

Kitten left behind

Jack Russell bitten by a snake: This Jack Russell in the photo above was rescued by us some 10 years ago as a puppy. Unfortunately he was bitten by a snake last week. He is still not off the critical list.

Bunny release – local sanctuary

Bunnies and duck: See short video on the left. This week we had a sick bunny at the Vet who I collected from the Vet yesterday and she has now been put into our small private sanctuary together with our Mallard duck who cannot fly and one of the other bunnies who has medical issues. Being in a smaller environment makes it easier for us to catch them to administer meds etc.

Cats at feed station: We have several colonies that we feed ourselves but in many cases where we do TNR (Trap, Neuter, Return) we encourage the people who have called us in to continue feeding the cats and set up housing for them thus keeping the rodent situation under control. 

This photo below was taken of 4 out of 8 of one of our colonies where due to COVID lockdown we have had to resort to feeding them outside the locked premises. We have been feeding them for over 2 years now.

All have been sterilized and vaccinated and have clips/notches in their ears showing they have been sterilized and are being cared for. Two of these 4 have now been socialised and homed leaving now only 6 at the feed station. It was obvious that the 2 now homed were originally either domestic strays or dumped.

Feral cat feed station

ADOPTIONS: Approved adoption applications and home-checks apply.

Our adoption fee of R850 covers 1st vacs and boosters as well as 1st rabies, deworming, deflea, and sterilization when done by one of our nominated Vets.

Financial Donations to: 
J David Cats Galore
Standard Bank
Branch code: 051001
Cheque a/c no. 002982846                 
Beneficiary Ref: “CG + Cell number”

Or to the shelter direct:
Friends of Ferals
FNB
Cheque a/c: 627 5435 9852
Branch: 250 655
Beneficiary Ref: “CG + Cell number”.

Proof of payments to either: Judy 083 611 1333 or judy.e.david@gmail.com

Judy
Judy.e.david@gmail.com

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CAROLE’S CAT CHRONICLES – 14 SEPTEMBER 2021

DONATIONS

I received two large bags of cat food pellets last week. Whiskas and Feline Cuisine together with tins of Tuna which the cats love as a treat. I just want to thank the lady who dropped these off at VET TO PET, my collection bin was full.

LEAPING FROG CATS

This week I have included pictures of two of our cats (below) that we feed at the centre. One is Black Beauty that we call B.B. for short. The other picture is of Sandy, our tiniest member of the group. She is very sweet and gentle. Both of them must be getting on for 12 years or more now.

For those of you who donate cat food, my collection bin is at VET TO PET. Please drop off your soft food or pellets with them if you are keen to help with this feeding scheme.

Carole
caroledike@gmail.com
0824242363

Black Beauty
Sandy
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FERAL CATS, RESCUES AND OTHER – 14 SEPTEMBER 2021

Donations Bin in Pick’nPay
We no longer have a food donations bin inside our local Pick’nPay. Either contact myself on 083 611 1333 and I will collect from you or leave with Biz-X-Press just opposite Woolworths. I apologise for any inconvenience.  For our preferred tins of food loved by the cats please see photos of last week.

Schweppes is doing well, see collage. Still a few weeks to go with another check-up next week. We need to leave in the stitches for as long as possible.

Minka, mentioned last week as also going to the Eye Hospital, is showing some improvement after a few days of once daily eye cleansing, see photo of Before and After. It is thought she has no tear duct in the one eye.

Schweppes today
Minka's eye before & after

Abby, see collage:
After scans which revealed nothing, once opened up, altho’ hidden behind the kidneys and despite having been spayed some 2 years ago by another Vet, they found one ovary intact and the remains of the second ovary, both of which should have been removed when being spayed originally.

Had she not been in heat the operation would have been more involved.

She is now back at the shelter, Friends of Ferals (FoF, Hennospriver) and in the Cattery section until her wound heals and as seen from the collage has one of our teenage kittens looking thru the window checking she is okay.

Abby is a Torbie (half her coat is that of a Tabby and the other half that of a Tortie). She is not yet 3 years old, loving and affectionate and used to other cats and is now up for adoption.

Financial donation:
A huge thanks to the lady who has yet again donated a sum of money into our account with the Lonehill Vet. Altho’ done end of July I only saw it on my statement from the Vet early September. This enabled me to have the stray mother and son cats, trapped last week, not only sterilised but also for them to get their vaccinations, rabies and flea and worm treatment giving them a new, fresh start and they are now back in the office park where their carer of past few months is sorting out housing for them. Thank you again for this donation.

New kids on the block:
With the longer days and sunlight hours kitten season has started and 4 to 5 week old kittens are popping out of the woodwork. Charmaine at the shelter rescued and has taken in our first litter who will be up for adoption when around 8 weeks of age. See photos.

Kits just caught

ADOPTIONS:

Approved adoption applications and home-checks apply.
Our adoption fee of R850 covers 1st vacs and boosters as well as 1st rabies, deworming, deflea, and sterilization when done by one of our nominated Vets.

Financial Donations to:
J David Cats Galore
Standard Bank
Branch code: 051001
Cheque a/c no. 002982846
Beneficiary Ref: “CG + Cell number”
Or
Friends of Ferals
FNB
Cheque a/c: 627 5435 9852
Branch: 250 655
Beneficiary Ref: “CG + Cell number”.

Proof of payments to either: Judy 083 611 1333 or judy.e.david@gmail.com

Judy
Judy.e.david@gmail.com

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FERAL CATS, RESCUES AND OTHER – 7 SEPTEMBER 2021

Pampers Mince

Donations Bin in Pick’nPay:

Our donations bin inside our local Pick’nPay was last week, Tuesday, removed as they wish to do a National Pet Drive. I know the location of this bin was convenient for shoppers leaving the store, however, if you have pet items or food specifically for us, Biz-X-Press just opposite Woolworths have kindly agreed to accept any donations on our behalf.

Previously when we had a surplus of dry pellets but were desperately short on tinned food Pick’nPay would kindly allow us to exchange the dry pellets for soft food, both tins and pouches. The cats soft food of choice is the Pampers Mince (as no lumps) per photo and the P’n Pay’s own brand of Tuna per the photo.

Preferred tins

Having so many cats we need to ensure daily that each one is eating and a small blob of soft food is used as a bribe, we also use it as a carrier for their meds and supplements that they receive on a daily basis.

Then for trapping the cats when injured or to be sterilised we use human tuna in brine/salt and Pilchards in tomato sauce (both strong smelling and different from their usual cat food) per photo. Apologies for any inconvenience.

Schweppes went for a check up on Friday and as an ulcer had formed from eye-lashes turning inwards they had to do some more suturing, yet another R1000 but still covered by myself from donations I have to hand so no burden on the Shelter.

Then today Minka (year old kitten) went to the Eye Hospital with a similar problem but we are not doing any surgery rather long term treatment but yet another account to pay.

Abby, who despite having been spayed over 2 years ago, still comes in heat which is currently the case today so I am bringing her down from the shelter for a scan, blood tests and surgery on Thursday, however, again this will not burden the shelter as I have raised the funds to cover her procedures, this will be done by Paulshof Vet. Then tomorrow morning I have 2 feral cats (mother in heat and son) going into the Lonehill Vet to be sterilised provided we manage to trap them in the morning.

Also on photos are the 2 females (Scritchley and Squeaky) trapped and spayed yesterday in Pretoria close to where they were trapped and a video of Maggie (a car engine rescue a while back) showing what to expect when in heat.

ADOPTIONS: Approved adoption applications and home-checks apply.
Our adoption fee of R850 covers 1st vacs and boosters as well as 1st rabies, deworming, deflea, and sterilization when done by one of our nominated Vets.

Financial Donations to:
J David Cats Galore
Standard Bank
Branch code: 051001
Cheque a/c no. 002982846
Ben. Ref: “CG + Cell number
Proof of payments to either: Judy 083 611 1333
or judy.e.david@gmail.com

Judy
Judy.e.david@gmail.com